Being a parent is pretty fun . . .

So now that Heidi has existed for over 3 weeks now, we're starting to get the question, "So, you guys still like this gig?" We do. We really like being parents. We realize it's relatively easy right now - but it's so fun. She's our own source of entertainment. The Olympics have taken a back seat to just sitting around in the living room watching our daughter. She's pretty cute. Don't believe me? How about these pictures . . .










Here she is on her changing table. We discovered (by accident) that if we put the mirror from her papasan chair on the table with her, it totally changes the experience.










C'mon, yall got to create a caption for this picture. We thought this was hilarious. This was her first bath in the real tub - and her first expression when placed in the water. So cute!

Not to be outdone, we've also been busy at our rent house next door. We've always known our kitchen was booty ugly and our poor tenants have been living there for a year in the worlds smallest and most inconvenient kitchen. Really, look how bad it was:

We hired one of our friends to fix it up for the girls that live there now and install a dishwasher so they could move into the 20th century. He obliged and did a fantastic job. Just look at the difference:

That's all from the homefront! Hope all of you are well! Thanks so much for thinking of us and praying for us over the past month. We have really appreciated it. We'll continue to keep you posted not just on Heidi's developments, but also on the next class of Forge students that will arrive in a short 2 weeks! Amazing that it's time for fall already. . .

Two-Weeks and 28 Years

Heidi had her two-week appointment today and everything looked great. She is back up to her birth weight of 6lbs 10oz, so still very tiny but gaining every day. Mommy wants her to have those chubby thighs, so that's the goal! Right now she is in the 5% for weight so we have a lot of work to do. :-)

We also took pictures of her today for her 2-week birthday. The first photo here is of Darcie at 2 weeks, wearing a cute little white dress. Darcie's mom saved the dress for 28 years, so we put Heidi in it to do a quick comparison and photo shoot. What do you think? We think she looks like Darcie with a hint of Lantz - just as it should be!

You can't deny it, she's a pretty cute baby, especially when she's smiling like this. She really is a good baby - she is already on a 2.5 - 3 hour schedule and getting better at sleeping at night and being awake during the day. We are really lucky.
More to come soon, I'm sure! Matt has been sick this week, so we're learning to parent without transferring germs. :-)

They Grow Up So Fast...

Well, we celebrated Heidi's one-week birthday yesterday... and by celebrated, I mean we took a few photos. We had high hopes of doing some 'professional' shots of all her different fun faces with a nice background, but the face that kept showing up was the cry-face - imagine that - so we settled for what we could get! She's got some cute ones, including the very thoughtful face, the serious face, the just-after-i-ate happy face...

We're having fun trying to learn to interpret her many faces, and her cries too. I think we've figured out a few, but I'm sure there are many more we'll come across in the coming weeks.

The other big news is that we took Heidi for her first doctor's appointment at the pediatrician's on Monday - her first outing! She did great and everything looked normal. Our pediatrician is great, very personable and you can tell he loves kids. He's also an Aggie, so that helps!

If you are a fan of Seinfeld and his stand-up routines, we took a picture of Heidi at the doctor's office as a tribute and touched it up a bit... see here. :-)

Pictures Galore

Heidi Katharine Lantz

Okay, you guys want pictures? We got pictures. ....this is only the beginning. :)

Heidi's Story

For those of you we haven't gotten to talk to about Heidi's birthday, we thought we'd put the whole story up here for you guys to read - then we can tell you about the details when you get to meet her!

For us, the excitment began early Wednesday morning. Darcie was awake at about 12:30am after only being asleep for an hour or so. She started having some contractions, but was sweet enough to let me sleep. I was startled awake by one around 1:30, so we decided we better start keeping track.

The contractions intensified so that by 6:30am we called the doctor and he told us to go ahead and come on in to the hospital. Once we got there, the nurse took her time checking Darice in because, as she later told us, she didn't think she was that far along because she was managing the pain so well. But, when she checked her she said, "Oh, my! You're at a 4.5 - we'd better get you guys a room!"

The contractions continued to increase in frequency and duration. By around 11am, she was dialated to a 6 and made the decision to go ahead and get an epidural - a decision she says, "I'd do it again!" She loved it. After that, the OB decided to go ahead and break her water to move things along. We were all expecting a baby before dinner.

We waited, and waited, and waited, but Heidi just wasn't ready to come yet. So, since I was no longer coaching Darcie through the pain - we just played cards and watched TV as our poor parents sat forever out in the lobby waiting for news.

Finally, around 7pm, Darice was at a 10 and the Dr. wanted her to start pushing just to see how well she could move the baby. After a few practice runs, they decided to tell her to start pushing for real and by 8:05, Heidi was here!

We didn't get to bed that night until 3am Thursday morning -but Heidi was sweet and let us sleep in till 6:30. We entertained lots of friends and family yesterday that came to meet her and we are heading home from the hospital this morning to introduce her to her new home!

Thank you all so much for your prayers, notes of encouragement, for checking up with us and for coming to visit. We've felt so loved through this process by all of you and treasure your friendship. For those of you who haven't gotten the chance to meet her, we're eager to introduce her to you!

Heidi Katharine means "the noble, pure one". We'd like for her bedtime stories to revolve around her two names, so if you come across any good ones - let us know!

Once we get home, we'll post lots more pictures for you guys to see!

Join us in giving great thanks and praise to God for His indescribable gift!